Bush Says His Reports On Tower Didn't Shake His Confidence

February 7, 1989|By Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — President Bush said he retained confidence in John Tower as his nominee for secretary of defense and said that the controversy over the former Texas senator's private life would not cripple his ability to handle the Pentagon job.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has held up Tower's confirmation while the FBI investigates new allegations of excessive drinking and of womanizing. In the course of its renewed investigation over the weekend, FBI agents turned up additional charges of personal misconduct by Tower, but they could not be substantiated, sources said.

Bush was briefed Monday on the progress of the FBI investigation, and told reporters at an afternoon press conference that he heard nothing that would shake his confidence in Tower.

He said, however, that ''if someone comes up with facts'' that indicate Tower is unfit to serve in government, he is not too ''narrow-minded'' to listen to them.

The FBI report is virtually complete but has not yet been forwarded to the Armed Services Committee, sources said. The full Senate will probably not receive the nomination until next week.

Bush said that if Tower wins approval, as he expects, he does not believe ''there's any danger to his credibility or his ability to do his job.''

Some Democrats in Congress, notably House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin of Wisconsin, have said that the flurry of rumors about Tower and the protracted confirmation process will leave him weakened and unable to effectively take charge at the Pentagon.